To the southeast of the Changhai Sea, to the south of Luzhou, and to the Poli Kingdom, the annual "big festival", so the capital was filled with joy. Ding Zhengyuan, who came from afar, participated in the celebration as an old friend of the king and his followers.

It was November, and it was winter. Although it would not snow in the country of Poli, the climate was not that hot.

The kings, queens and nobles dressed in silk dresses, drank the iced "Wolf Eye Wine" in the glass, and ate "popcorn" and various Central Plains delicacies. They looked at the grand parade and smiled.

Ding Zhengyuan sat next to the king. Seeing the king's smile, his eyes narrowed into a line. He raised his glass to toast at the right time, wishing the country of Poli to be in good weather and sufficient treasury in the coming year, wishing the king and queen good health, and wishing the royal family prosperity.

For the court, as long as the small countries in Nanyang are not "thorns" and are willing to have friendly exchanges with the court, they are "friendly countries". For the Nanyang Trading Company, as long as the countries in Nanyang are willing to do business, they are big customers that must serve enthusiastically.

The Poli Kingdom, or the "Poli Kingdom", is a country on the "Borneo" of the southeastern island of the South Ocean. This big island produces spices and there are also a large amount of seafood in the coastal areas, but it rarely interacts with the Central Plains.

It is said that during the Yuanhui period of the Liu Song Dynasty, there were records of the country of Poli sent envoys to offer prescriptions. During the Tianjian period of Xiaoliang, Poli sent envoys to Jiankang, so the name "Poli" was left in the Central Plains documents.

There are no historical books in the country, so it is difficult to tell when the country will be established. Since then, it has not strengthened exchanges with the Central Plains, but now it is different.

Although the Poli Kingdom is a small country in Nanyang, it is quite friendly to the Central Plains maritime merchants. The king of today is a wonderful person, knows the times and is willing to do big business with the Nanyang Trading Company. The various spices and seafood produced in large quantities in the country are sold to the Nanyang Trading Company at preferential prices.

Therefore, Ding Zhengyuan had to serve the other party comfortably.

The climate of Poli Country is hot, and even in winter, it is not much colder, so I have never seen ice since ancient times. The nobles in the country did not know the benefits of ice at all, so the Nanyang Trading Company supplied a large amount of ice transported from the north.

Let the powerful and wealthy families in the country enjoy ice and cool off in the hot summer, and even a large piece of ice can be placed next to them when sleeping. As for diet, there are a variety of ice drinks, so that these monarchs and ministers of small countries can enjoy the beauty of ice.

In addition, the silk, tea, porcelain, glassware, soap, wine and other affordable products from the Central Plains were dumped on a large scale in Poli Country, allowing all its people to enjoy the so-called "high-quality life".

The Nanyang Trading Company made a lot of profits for the court and the company by monopolizing trade with the Poli Kingdom, so even for the sake of money, Ding Zhengyuan had to be respectful to the king.

Even though the scene of the "high festival" is not very good, for Ding Zhengyuan and others, it is similar to the prefecture and county social drama, but the disapproval in his heart will never be revealed on the surface.

The host and the guest drink and talk happily.

As winter began, the north wind blew, and the imperial court sent envoys to Rome and Persia by boat. Ding Zhengyuan went south with the ship. Not long ago, the fleet arrived at the Lion City at the eastern end of the Strait of Malacca. He disembarked at the Lion City and then flew eastward to the Poli Kingdom to participate in the country's celebration.

Of course, he has to be happy with his master on such a festive day, so he cannot speak nonsense and ruin the scenery.

The memorial lasted for most of the day. As dusk approached, the sky became darker. In addition to lighting a large number of bonfires and torches at the celebration site, a large number of candles were also lit at the banquet, which made the scene look like daytime.

When night fell, Ding Zhengyuan ordered people to release the "fireworks" that had been prepared. The fireworks that kept blooming in the night sky pushed the celebration to **.

Several years ago, the people of Poli had never seen such a magical "fireworks performance" for generations. It was the arrival of the Zhou fleet that caused their lives to undergo tremendous changes. Looking at the fires blooming in the sky, everyone's faces were filled with smiles.

The king was extremely happy when he was drunk. He kicked the wine case and pulled Ding Zhengyuan, who was blushing, and danced directly. Ding Zhengyuan didn't know how to dance the other party's dance, so he danced with his hands and feet to accompany the king.

The nobles around him danced happily when they saw the king, and "Director Ding" was also dancing and immediately cheered.

The half-drunk and half-awake king pulled Ding Zhengyuan and said in half-baked Chinese: "Ding, Ding! I want Persian beauty, and I want!"

"Okay! The king likes Persian beauties, I will definitely send them here! The king needs as much as he wants!"

"Okay! Give me beauty, and I will give you black water too... burp!" The king burped with a hiccup, excited: "Black water, you can do as much as you want!"

......

The next afternoon, Ding Zhengyuan, who woke up from a hangover, ate some food, left the palace where he had been staying for one night, and headed towards the fortress.

The fortress, of course, refers to the fortress located in the Poli Kingdom of Nanyang Trading Company. The fortress has garrisons and related personnel, a total of thousands of people, stocking up various materials and food, and equipped with artillery. It is an important military stronghold.

The company set up a fortress in the Poli Country, of course, not to destroy the country. The Poli Country is willing to do business, that is, a mutually beneficial "customer", so there is no need to take action. The existence of the fortress and the garrison is to protect a very valuable resource.

That is "black gold" oil.

In the area where the Poli Kingdom is located, there have been "black springs" since ancient times. The so-called "black springs" mean that some sticky "black water" will seep out of the ground, like a spring at a glance.

These black waters are what the Central Plains call "stone water" and can be ignited as fuel. It is said that when the envoy of the Poli Kingdom went to Xiaoliang, they used the stone water as a gift.

Now, this "stone fat water" has a new name, called "oil".

In the Yanzhou area of ​​Guanzhong, there are already formally mined "oil fields". The factory extracts oil from "wax" and makes it into candles. The output is very large, which is a good deal.

Therefore, the "black spring" in the country of Poli became the "money spring".

Nanyang Trading Company and Poliguo were doing business, trying to drill wells in areas with "black springs", and indeed "oil wells" were drilled.

The oil well is not deep, and it doesn’t take much effort to extract the oil. The output is not low, and it is called "Borneo Oil".

Now, the "oil fields" in Poli Country have been officially mined and are the money cow of the Nanyang Trading Company. They must be stationed in case of trouble.

The oil here has a "wax content" not as good as that in Yanzhou's oil, but it can also extract "wax" to make candles, or extract some lubricating oil to lubricate the rotating parts of the machine.

Moreover, Borneo oil does not need to be refined, and can be used directly as "hard tin oil" or sold in large quantities as lamp oil.

Because Borneo oil burns less residue, it has another important purpose, which is the "fuel oil" used as a steamer.

Nanyang Trading Company conducted an experiment. Paddle steamers of the same type, loaded with the same weight of fuel, were significantly further away from paddle steamers that burned Borneo oil (using experimental oil-fueled steam boilers).

This is because the heat released by oil combustion is much higher than coal of the same weight. The difference between oil and coal from steamships is just like the difference between dry rice and porridge from humans.

Unfortunately, the oil is sticky and easy to block the pipeline and "oil injection port", resulting in a short life of the experimental oil-fuel steam boiler.

Therefore, these oils need to be initially "refined" to obtain "essential irrigated oil".

"Essential gust oil" is not so viscous and has fewer impurities. The experimental oil-fuel steam boiler uses it as fuel, has a long life and is much more durable.

In the future, at least in the Nanyang area, after the steamship with propeller as propulsion device is promoted, it will be carried out for long-distance across the sea, which can be achieved by burning "essential irrigated oil". "essential irrigated oil" can also have huge sales channels as a good lamp oil.

Under huge demand, Borneo oil can allow the court and the company to make a lot of profits by relying on small profits and quick turnover.

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that these sticky black water is black gold.

Ding Zhengyuan came to the fortress, looked at the oil wells in the nearby coconut forest, the flames swaying on the chimneys (oil well exhaust gas burning chimneys), and the busy workers, he felt extremely happy, and he really wanted to shout loudly:
Chapter completed!